4 ms·

I can't believe I'm defending Arrington here but for once, I think PG is off and Arrington is right. Arrington's editorializing has been fairly tame in this st

by sriramk 15y ago

I can't believe I'm defending Arrington here but for once, I think PG is off and Arrington is right. Arrington's editorializing has been fairly tame in this story. A lot of the mess has been due to EJ's posts and Airbnb's attempts at damage control. If you look through the original post, there are only a couple of lines where Arrington says Airbnb isn't financially responsible and that is, imho, a fair interpretation of what the spokesperson/Lukezic told him. TC has also done a fair job of publishing Airbnb's side of the story - guest posts, updating their posts, etc. Airbnb's real problem here is EJ, not Arrington. Airbnb's image isn't getting tarnished by posts on TC, it is getting tarnished by EJ's blog posts which make Airbnb's people seem cold and insensitive. If you look at PG's comments on the earlier thread, he seemed to imply that Airbnb disagreed with EJ's version of events (they called her before her second post, etc). That could be Airbnb's big problem - it seems to me they want to say EJ is lying but can't in public.

suprgeek 15y ago
Seconded. It is hard to write a defense of TC given past events. However in this case they are SPOT ON. None of the stories are overtly "drama" or "editorializing" on TC's part. EJs posts are dramatic enough. PG has come out in explicit defense on AirBnB's behalf when they are very clearly falling short in the ethical and "right thing to do" department, not to mention trying to censor somebody by pressuring them. Taking about closing funding rounds to a person who has their house burgled and trashed is beyond ludicrous. Disappointing...all in all.
- capdiz 15y ago
  They aren't falling short on being ethical. If you had read the very first story airbnb came out with a pretty decent explanation. I believe they were too ethical in the first place. They gave out a lot of info to be exact. To put it blantly they were overly nice and this chick is takin advantage of that. But TC did nothin wrong though.
- sliverstorm 15y ago
  PG has come out in explicit defense on AirBnB's behalf when they are very clearly falling short in the ethical and "right thing to do" department Well, he is invested in them, and he is only human. While I am not saying that is why he is backing AirBnB, it's good not to forget where people are coming from and where their interests lie.
  - wisty 15y ago
    It's also possible he thinks he is acting in good faith. It's possible that AirBnB gave a different story to PG, when he asked what was going on, and they complained about how the press was misrepresenting them. PG then blogs their excuses, having taken them as gospel. I'm really surprised how definitive PG sounds. He's not saying "The CEO reassured me in a private chat ...", he's acting like he was a fly on the wall, and saw it all take place.
  - prodigal_erik 15y ago
    pg once cited Mark Twain's "Corn-pone Opinons" essay in a link from "What You Can't Say". I expect he's already given thought to his own biases here, and yes we also ought to remain aware of that. http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html
petegrif 15y ago
Agree. Airbnb have a big problem but it isn't Techcrunch. And I don't see why Arrington shouldn't defend himself.
- Goladus 15y ago
  Well, the manner of his defense doesn't help his image as a drama queen, but he's probably fine with that.
  - bugsy 15y ago
    He's not a drama queen. The people saying so are the VCs upset after he posted about their secret conspiracy meetings, which they denied, and it all was true. The VC community has it in for him since then and will do anything to attack the guy, who is one of the only credible writers left in this field full of vipers and narcissists.
    - Goladus 15y ago
      I am not questioning his credibility, I'm questioning his presentation. I'm doing it several levels deep in a comment thread because I don't think it's an incredibly important point, though I do think it's worth making. For example: "1. What the hell?" is a dramatic and confrontational expression of anger, frustration, and indignation. Justified or not, it reads like a flame war, not journalism.
gjm11 15y ago
> Airbnb's real problem here is EJ, not Arrington. No, Airbnb's real problem here is their own behaviour. (Unless EJ is simply lying outright about what they've done and what they've not done.)
- dollarsigns 15y ago
  "There's no reason [AirBnB] couldn't be as big as Ebay." Paul Graham in published email to Fred Wilson. http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html PG is a thinking man, and an effective one at that. Reading (not that deeply) between the lines, clearly every sensible person initially "has doubts" about the concept, but then apparently meeting the team is supposed to address those doubts. Sounds like the AirBnB team are excellent as bs'ing people. And dear PG: Cheering for AirBnB to become as big as eBay circa 2009's business plan seems to indicate that even the adults here were not giving any weight to the safety and security issues inherent in an eBay scale operation. I would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts about this topic (if any) that informed your decision.
bfe 15y ago
I just don't think that's a fair characterization. Obviously right in the midst of the police's own investigation airbnb's lawyers advised them not to make characterizations that would get ahead of the investigation. PG wanted to make that clear, and the news coverage wouldn't let that rest.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

by sriramk 15y ago

suprgeek 15y ago

Seconded. It is hard to write a defense of TC given past events. However in this case they are SPOT ON. None of the stories are overtly "drama" or "editorializing" on TC's part. EJs posts are dramatic enough. PG has come out in explicit defense on AirBnB's behalf when they are very clearly falling short in the ethical and "right thing to do" department, not to mention trying to censor somebody by pressuring them. Taking about closing funding rounds to a person who has their house burgled and trashed is beyond ludicrous. Disappointing...all in all.

capdiz 15y ago
They aren't falling short on being ethical. If you had read the very first story airbnb came out with a pretty decent explanation. I believe they were too ethical in the first place. They gave out a lot of info to be exact. To put it blantly they were overly nice and this chick is takin advantage of that. But TC did nothin wrong though.
sliverstorm 15y ago
PG has come out in explicit defense on AirBnB's behalf when they are very clearly falling short in the ethical and "right thing to do" department Well, he is invested in them, and he is only human. While I am not saying that is why he is backing AirBnB, it's good not to forget where people are coming from and where their interests lie.
- wisty 15y ago
  It's also possible he thinks he is acting in good faith. It's possible that AirBnB gave a different story to PG, when he asked what was going on, and they complained about how the press was misrepresenting them. PG then blogs their excuses, having taken them as gospel. I'm really surprised how definitive PG sounds. He's not saying "The CEO reassured me in a private chat ...", he's acting like he was a fly on the wall, and saw it all take place.
- prodigal_erik 15y ago
  pg once cited Mark Twain's "Corn-pone Opinons" essay in a link from "What You Can't Say". I expect he's already given thought to his own biases here, and yes we also ought to remain aware of that. http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html http://www.paulgraham.com/cornpone.html

petegrif 15y ago

Agree. Airbnb have a big problem but it isn't Techcrunch. And I don't see why Arrington shouldn't defend himself.

Goladus 15y ago
Well, the manner of his defense doesn't help his image as a drama queen, but he's probably fine with that.
- bugsy 15y ago
  He's not a drama queen. The people saying so are the VCs upset after he posted about their secret conspiracy meetings, which they denied, and it all was true. The VC community has it in for him since then and will do anything to attack the guy, who is one of the only credible writers left in this field full of vipers and narcissists.
  - Goladus 15y ago
    I am not questioning his credibility, I'm questioning his presentation. I'm doing it several levels deep in a comment thread because I don't think it's an incredibly important point, though I do think it's worth making. For example: "1. What the hell?" is a dramatic and confrontational expression of anger, frustration, and indignation. Justified or not, it reads like a flame war, not journalism.

gjm11 15y ago

> Airbnb's real problem here is EJ, not Arrington. No, Airbnb's real problem here is their own behaviour. (Unless EJ is simply lying outright about what they've done and what they've not done.)

dollarsigns 15y ago
"There's no reason [AirBnB] couldn't be as big as Ebay." Paul Graham in published email to Fred Wilson. http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html http://paulgraham.com/airbnb.html PG is a thinking man, and an effective one at that. Reading (not that deeply) between the lines, clearly every sensible person initially "has doubts" about the concept, but then apparently meeting the team is supposed to address those doubts. Sounds like the AirBnB team are excellent as bs'ing people. And dear PG: Cheering for AirBnB to become as big as eBay circa 2009's business plan seems to indicate that even the adults here were not giving any weight to the safety and security issues inherent in an eBay scale operation. I would very much appreciate hearing your thoughts about this topic (if any) that informed your decision.

bfe 15y ago

I just don't think that's a fair characterization. Obviously right in the midst of the police's own investigation airbnb's lawyers advised them not to make characterizations that would get ahead of the investigation. PG wanted to make that clear, and the news coverage wouldn't let that rest.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]